Holiday Recipe Series: Pumpkin Bread Recipe (the perfect, affordable present for teachers, friends and colleagues)

Notice I didn’t saw low fat. Or low sugar. Or healthy. I’m talking sweet, delicious pumpkin bread with a buttery, pretty glaze on top.

I don’t really bake. But this recipe is handed down to me by my mom, who also doesn’t really bake. And if she can do it, so can I. My mom bakes dozens of these loaves of pumpkin bread and freezes them. Then she hands them out to friends and colleagues in the days before Christmas. She is famous for this, and folks look forward to her pumpkin bread with great anticipation. And I get to imagine her as domestic for a mere moment, but then the image is gone.

So I am trying it this year. It is a nice affordable present for people, one they are bound to enjoy. It’s not from Wal-Mart. Not imported from China, at the Christmas Tree Shop for 2.99. It’s straight from my family (minus the shortening) to your kitchen, friends and family. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. And your kids can help you make it.

(It is much better to double this recipe. You’ll want two loaves anyway, and then you don’t have to worry about using up the rest of a can of pumpkin.)

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 2/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup warm water

*Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, and oil
*mix well
*add vanilla, flour, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg
*mix baking soda, and warm water in a separate bowl
*add this to the other mixture (a little at a time)
*greased loaf
*bake at 350 degrees for one hour

Glaze

3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon water

*Boil until thickened
*Spread on bread with brush
*pour the rest over and cool completely

PS- One way to make this healthier is to use fresh pumpkin instead of canned (no BPA), whole wheat flour, and applesauce for the oil. If you make these modifications, please post them here (and how they worked out!).

image: Kristin Brenemen's photostream on Flickr